Pages

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Google+ Integration Is Coming To Flipboard

If you’re a long-time Flipboard for iOS user, or even a new one who just discovered Flipboard for Android on the Samsung Galaxy S III, then you may be pleased to know that the popular news reader will soon be introducing Google+ integration. Flipboard has partnered with Google and taken advantage of its extended APIs which will allow users to view streams, posts, photos, videos, and other data posted to Google+.

Google’s Vice President of Product Management, Bradley Horowitz, announced the partnership at Le Web ’12 in London. He did not, however, confirm a release date though he did say the new featureis “coming soon” and he was “coy” when probed about Google+’s popularity:

Horowitz was coy when asked about the success of Google+, noting that the 170 million user figure was “stale.” However, he did note that with Google I/O just days away, we can expect the company to provide more updates on its services at the event but also on its next earnings call.

Horowitz did reveal that Google+ has gained some users as a result of its newly-revamped Android and iOS applications.

Google+ will join the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other social services, which are already built into Flipboard.

Of course, Google already has its own news reader which is a lot like Flipboard in terms of design called Currents. Whether its new partnership means Currents will now be killed off is unclear, but it’s certain that its partnership with Flipboard will help Google+ grow more than Currents will. Maybe Google just had to bit the bullet and partner will a rival for the sake of its social network.